ITEMS OF INTEREST

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 55, 9 March 1945, Page 3

ITEMS OF INTEREST

£100 Bequest A bequest of £100 hjis been received by the Forest and Bird Protection Society under the will of the late W. S. Smithy of Sumner who was u life member of. the. Society. Increase in Pay The rates of pay of members of the. Public Service are to be increased 011 exactly the same basis as those granted to Railway Department employees by the Railways Tribunal it has been officially stated. Payments are. to be made retro- : spective to .Tune 30, 1944, and are to be paid out before the end of the financial year ? March so that they can lie brought to charge in the current budgetry period. Seagulls Public statements recently appearing in the pres stating that seagulls are not protected by law are erroneous states, the. Forest and Bird Protection Society, and have led to illegal killing. Only one gull—the black-backed gull—is unprotected, and the penalty for killing others, is a heavy one. Birds Return to Nest Recently a blackbird's nest containing two eggs was removed from a hedge, and placed on a' lown in order that the hedge might be cut ? slates a writer in "Forest and Bird." Three or four hours later it was remembered < and replaced in. the hedge, though not in the same position after having lain in the bright sunlight all that time. Next day there were three eggs in the nest and the following day Avere four. It is not usual for birds to return to a nest that has been tempered with. White Porpoise Protected By an amendment in the Sea Fisli-. cries Regulations. 1939 w the Govern-, ment has taken steps- to protect the white porpoise commonly known as Pelorus Jack II in the waters of Cook Strait ahd Marlborough Sounds. It was reported recently that Pelorus Jack II had returned to Pelorus Sound after a long absence. The fish is a piebald porpoise, which got its name through its habit, of accompanying launches in much the same manner as its famous predecessor convoyed ships through French Pass. Pukekohe Hili Pukekohe Hill long famed for its J . vegetables is coming to be worked or rather eroded states a contributor to "Forest and Bird." The washing away of the soil has been very serious- and the effects' are ob-> vious. to all. Yet the farmers still persist in cultivating up and down these steep slopes, contour ploughing being an unknown practice. Years ago fertile hillsides of China Avere cultivated up and tloAvn the slopes*; today these hillsides are barren wastes and silt from them gives the name "yellow" to the Yellow River. Verb "to Graunch" The Armed Services particularly the Rovai Air Force have, contributed a score or more of new words and phrases to the imperishable stuff of the English language since the war began. Latest of these words, and one not yet in full use, because it has not filtered through all ranks is "graunch." Briefly it means to make a mess of anything, as to smash up a plane or motor to fail in any particular job or mission. "In a night landing, being a poor type, he graunched his kite and the wineo took a very dim view of the whole tea-party," might be a typical Air Force Avay of saying that an indifferent pilot crashed his aircraft., thereby incurring the extreme displeasure of the wing commander.